Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-08-05
THE GHILZAI COUNTRY.
BIcYcLER STEVENS VISIT TO A
CAMP OF AFGHANIsTAN NOMADS.

Picturesque Dress of the Women--An
| Embarrassed Chief-Tribal Hospitality.
| Etiquette of the Table.
In tbe~~loneiy desert country east of
| Kandahar are Occasional small GASES that
| in the comparatively moist springtirne af-
ford excellent grazing Arriving 1T ona
| of these verdant areas, observed herds
of camels browsing peacefully gn The
green young heritage, and pretty soon
came to cluster of about fifty black goat
hair tents. The tents were pitched in two
parallel rows along q stretch of clean,
gravelly ground, slightly elevated above
the mud flats of an adjacent alkaline sink.
The material of the tents was woven
goat hair, and the prevailing shape COM
promise between the Indian tepee and an
ordinary wedge tent. The tent of the
chief stood out conspicuously from the
others by reason of its large size and the
superior material entering into it's con-
struction. A couple of hundred yards
from the tents was small spring Of
water inclosed within rude wall of loosely
piled stones. The water was allowed to
percolate through this wall and accumu-
late in basin outside. Here, as l rode
up were several women filing goat skin
vessels to carry to the tents.
Some of these women were picturesque
creatures, to say the least, their radiance
consisting of baggy Turkish trousers of
brightest blue, and Jackets of equally
bright red. They also wore profusion of
bead necklaces and the mullifare gew-
gaws so dear to the heart of semi-ciVilizeG
races in all parts of the world, A con-
splcuous ornament, and one mat I had
not yet seen in Asia, was & S41l.4li, beaded
Jewel attached to the left side of the nose,
apparently fastened there by means of
hole bored through the cartilage. In
striking contrast to the gorgeous raiments
affected by The females of the tribe were
the simple yet Withal striking costumes of
the men. AS l halted u moment to OBJ
tain drink of water at the spring could
see these noble loafers emerging from the
shelter of the tents and standing in Curl
GUS groups, trying to penetrate the secret
of my strange appearance and still
stranger mode of locomotion. From bead
to foot the Ghilzais were clad in coarse
white cotton cloth; with their flowing
white garments and rude weapons they
looked like some strange community of
warrior priests. On their heads were tall,
conical hats fancifully braided with gold
or silver thread. Enough white material to
make bed sheet wound round about the
base of the cone coverted this headgear into
regulation Afghan turban. Two feet or
Whereabouts at che end of the turban was
left dangling down the wearer's back.
On their arms they wore bracelets of
plain copper wire about the size of or
binary telegraph wire. Some of the men
wore as many as half dozen of these
rude ornaments-three on each wrist.
Some Of their feet were incased in rude
sandals of Unframed goatskin; others re-
joiced in the possession of red leather slip
per like footgear with pointed toes OBJ
tanned from the baZars of Kandahar or
Beerjaud. The chief sported an elaborate
pair of Hindostani shoes, the fronts of
which were fancifully ornamented with
patterns in gold thread. In all other par
ticulars his costume was the counterpart
of those about him.
The Ghilzais are among the most fanati-
cal of the Afghan tribes, and as l rode up
and dismounted at the tent of the chief
tain that worthy champion of Islam
colored up as red as a beet with embar-
rassment With the quick intuition and
ready penetration that come of long and
varying association with the strange peo-
pies of Central Asia, the changing counte-
nance of the GhiIzai chief impressed me
as the fiery signal of inbred Mussulman
fanaticism lighting up spontaneously at
the sudden appearance of Ferenghi in
his presence and power. He invited me
into his tent with a brusque, half angry
. gesture, that was probably due more to
his embarrassment than toNyoluntary dis
courtesy; for, to give the devil his due,
one great redeeming feature of all these
wandering Asiatic tribes IS their hospi-
tality to strangers.
Gathered about the door of every tent
were women and children gazing Curl
ously and with much wonderment at the
strangers marvellous asp-i-awhen iron
horse, standing up against the tent pole
of their chieftain's quarters. The smooth,
hard, gravelly elevation was in every
respect suitable for bicycling; and so, to
crafty the curiosity of the whole wonder
ing camp, l rode several times back and
forth the entire length of the tented street.
My appearance among them was the sig
nal for ordering the slaughter of q fat
young goat, so that the chief might enter
tain the stranger in a hospitable and be-
coming manner. The evening meal con-
sisted of pancake like sheets of unleavened
bread, boiled goat, mast and doke A
liberal bowl of the broth from the boiled
goat meat, an abundance of bread, meat,
mast and doke We're placed before me on
wooden tray on the ground. The chief
and several OF his men gathered around
communal spread of the same dishes.
The Ghilzai chief invited me to begin
eating with a grave and dignified tBismil-
lah." Knives and forks were of course,
conspicuous by their absence; the Ghilzai
eats entirely with his fingers. At my re-
quest I was provided with a rude wooden
ladle, the only implement in the form of a
spoon that the camp was able to produce.
Everybody watched me with intense inter-
est to see what particular use | was going
t2 make of the ladle. A look of curious
incfedulity came over their faces, as if un-
able 10 believe the evidence of their own
eyes, when | began using it for drinking
the broth. These rude children of the
Afghan deserts watched me drink broth
out of q ladle with intense curiosity Al
their table L was equally curious to OBJ
serve their own particular mode of eating.
Everybody first proceeded to tear the
sheets of bread into little pieces and put
them into the big bowl of broth. This was
pressed down and worked about with the
hand until the broth was pretty thoroughly
soaked up. Everybody then helped them
selves to liberal mouthfulS of the saturated
bread, rolling it into stable balls for pop
ping in the mouth. The mass was dipped
up with small pieces of bread and popped
into the mouth. Each guest took his turn
in liberal rotations from the flowing bowl
of doke. Etiquette demands the chief to con
tinue eating, or at least to pretend to con-
tinue eating, after everybody is finished.
At the conclusion of the meal everybody
eructated aloud to signify that the measure
OF their capacity was reached, when an at
tendant appeared and carried away the
remnants. All the vessels used during
the meal were of massive pewter, curl
ously chased, valued and indestructible
household gods, that are handed down
from one generation to another.-Thomas
Stevens in New York World.
This Actually Happened.
A boy went into a Ridge avenue
grocery store the other evening and
bought some groceries. In the change
there was q Canada ten cent niece The